Wind in the Trees, Love in our Hearts

There is a freight train rushing outside our window. It makes the wind chime dance for joy but perhaps it also creates havoc for anyone even trying to walk out there! We had a chance to get away this weekend, to reconnect, have time alone. While we were away, there was snow,

.As soon as we got there, we checked out our room and had time in the hot tub.Our room was called "Silverbirch" and was created by a local artist. Each room there has some local flavour, having been created by local artists to be one of a kind. They are super relaxing, quiet and mostly wood- just beautiful.  Having had no water for most of this last week- and with no end of that in sight- we decided to make the most of the water!

 After the hot tub, it was dinner time. Someone comes by the room to invite you personally. We had been given a bottle of champagne which we opened in the hot tub. We took the rest up to our four-course meal.

 The lodge had a group of heli-skiers from the States and Germany. There were a couple of women in the group, but largely, it was a bunch of adrenaline junkies waiting for their next fix.

 Our salad was spinach with strawberries, feta cheese, pecans and a wonderful balsamic vinaigrette. It was followed by:

 Prime rib with potatoes and roasted winter vegetables, covered in a delicious gravy.

  We had our meals together with the whole group.Breakfast was delicious as well--and yes, I know I am over-using the word delicious, but truly, it was! The group was hopeful, ready for the day to begin, to find the untracked snow, the deep powder promised to them on our local mountains. They talked about new types of skiing and boarding, using kites to enhance the opportunity.They were kind and friendly, sitting with us, chatting their time away while they waited for weather conducive to helicopter flights. Yesterday, that was not the case.

 The flakes of snow were so big, though it wasn't too cold, it certainly was not the kind of weather for flights to leave in. We decided to go snowshoeing down by the river. The flakes landed and didn't thaw, creating snowmen of us as we wandered.

 Since the flight was not leaving, the hockey arena got cleared for a staff vs. skibums game. Wonder how that went?

We enjoyed lunch with other visitors who were not part of the group, eating far more than we needed. It is so hard to refuse when someone else is such a gifted cook! As the afternoon wore on, we left the lodge and meandered our way home, even stopping to nap for a while in the bright sunlit snowy day. The drive 65 km up the Valley was spectacular! We took some pictures of horses in fields, with their furry winter coats.

The river led the way for us, traveling ahead as we took our time. We came home, reconnected, refreshed and relaxed, grateful for the time we had uninterrupted by ordinary life.